The role of the Kingston Arts Centre and the Shirley Burke Theatre in Kingston’s arts and culture history is not to be underestimated.
If the City of Kingston is a crown of jewels along Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay, its arts and culture hubs are the dazzling gems that steal the spotlight. Nearly a century on from their humble beginnings, The Kingston City Hall and neighbouring Arts Centre, collectively dubbed the Kingston Arts Precinct, continue to pump life into the creative communities at the heart of Melbourne’s bayside suburbs.
Each with its own rich history, steadfast purpose and vital cultural importance, these venues are key platforms for community connection. With them, the treasured role of the arts in Kingston has not just survived, but thrived.
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
The history of the Kingston Arts Centre
View this post on Instagram
Nestled in the heart of Kingston and adjoining the historic City Hall, the Kingston Arts Centre is a stalwart of the region’s arts and culture industries. This hub of entertainment has served the surrounding community and far-flung visitors for decades. Today, it remains as important as ever in shaping the face of the contemporary City of Kingston.
Its location near the intersection of the iconic South Road and bustling Nepean Highway marks the Kingston Arts Precinct as both the geographical and symbolic cultural centre of the region. Through community engagement and accessible entertainment, Kingston Arts Precinct has played a pivotal role in uplifting the arts communities in Melbourne’s south.
Housed in what was originally the City of Moorabbin Council Offices, the Georgian-style building in which the Kingston Arts Centre now operates has witnessed many lives over its almost-century-long history. 1928 saw the first official laying of the building’s stone foundations, with the official opening of the new shire hall unveiled in October of 1929.
From massive names in music to emerging local artists
View this post on Instagram
In 1963, the new Kingston City Hall – which was then known as the Moorabbin Town Hall – opened just next door. This turned the original neighbouring building into a hub dedicated to Kingston’s arts and culture.
The City Hall has boasted its own fair share of entertainment throughout history. Icons of the music industry like INXS and AC/DC were known to pop past the concert hall throughout the ’70s and ’80s.
In the late ’80s, questions arose regarding the purpose of Kingston Arts Centre’s historic 1920s building. Hefty structural upgrade costs meant that the building’s future was uncertain, with some campaigning for demolition. Fortunately, the community secured its preservation, giving it a new lease on life.
Renamed as the Kingston Arts Centre, the building’s interior was transformed to include a black box theatre, two visual art galleries and a historic Chamber room that preserves the building’s old-world charm, reminiscent of council chamber proceedings.
The cultural impact of the Kingston Arts Precinct on the local arts communities in the area is undeniable. Providing a safe, inclusive and accessible space for the Kingston region to participate in arts and culture, the Arts Precinct continues to foster and platform both established and emerging artists through educational programs, performances, exhibitions and family-friendly events.
With an epic calendar of shows throughout the year, it’s unsurprising that the Arts Precinct has been dubbed the cultural gateway to the City of Kingston. Upcoming events include everything from nationally beloved comedians performing to karaoke jazz with the Mordialloc Jazz Orchestra.
If these walls could speak, they would sing with the stories of performers, creatives, academics, councillors, artists and many more who have found a home here over the last one hundred years.
Shirley Burke Theatre and the little-known icon behind the name
View this post on Instagram
Parkdale’s Shirley Burke Theatre is a multipurpose entertainment hub that houses a gallery, studio space and theatre. Kingston’s art and culture communities have treasured it as an icon throughout its history. Today it stands as formidable as the woman behind its namesake.
Barrister, lawyer, local government councillor, mayor and solicitor Shirley Olga Burke was a trailblazer of her time. While working on her legal practice from her kitchen table in the ’50s, Shirley Burke became heavily involved with the local community.
Shirley quickly identified a need for a permanent kindergarten building in Parkdale. When she suggested this to the council, they said that they already had plans to build a bowling club. Frustrated but determined, Shirley asked for advice from Councillor Gertrude McKenzie on what to do. McKenzie simply suggested that Shirley should run for council herself.
In 1958, Shirley battled a long and hard campaign for a seat on the council. Ultimately, she won with a record number of votes. Over the next six years, Shirley fought for community needs with steadfast persistence and unwavering values.
Shirley became the second woman in Mordialloc Council’s history to serve as mayor. Before her death in 1975, the venue – known as the Lincoln Building – was renamed the Shirley Burke Theatre. The theatre is only a stone’s throw away from the location of the kindergarten that ignited Shirley’s council career.
Preserving history for a fruitful future
View this post on Instagram
The Winter Garden Cinema opened in the 1920s, before later becoming the Shirley Burke Theatre as we know it today. Since then, the space has undergone a plethora of iterations over its almost one-hundred-year history. The latest renovation in 2012 saw the venue transform into a contemporary hub of arts and culture. This included a new bar, foyer, 167-seat theatre, a multi-use studio space and gallery space.
In this upcoming month alone, the Shirley Burke Theatre is hosting everything from a thrilling new theatrical production to a free exhibition of art created from recycled waste. As with the work created within the venue, the opportunities to transform the space are limitless.
What’s more, both the Shirley Burke Theatre and the Kingston Arts Centre feature gallery spaces that feature rotating exhibitions of multi-media work: paintings, sculptures, installations and so much more, free for anyone to visit.
Currently, the gallery space is showing an exhibition titled Plastic Problems, a collaborative project focusing on artists with disabilities. Coming up, the space will be hosting Memory, Time and Country, an exploration of storytelling featuring three First Nations artists.
View this post on Instagram
The Shirley Burke Theatre is a hub of community connection and cultural sharing through the arts. Its ongoing importance as a place to commune, facilitate, entertain and celebrate is not dissimilar to the reason Shirley Burke got into local politics in the first place.
The Shirley Burke Theatre has made an incredible impact, shaping this bayside haven into a thriving artistic space. It continues to nurture and platform creativity for the communities surrounding Kingston. Even today, it brings in visitors from near and far to connect through the arts.
These historic venues have each stood the test of time. Their dedication to the arts and their incredible impact on creative communities is not just admirable, it’s vital.
Upcoming Events at Kingston Arts Precinct
- Weekly – Movie house: Classic movies on every Monday night
- Monthly – Jazz-e-oke: Jazz karaoke featuring a big live band
- Apr 27 – The Belair Lip Bombs, Lotte Gallagher and Sophie Marr
- Apr 30 – Jun 7 – Memory, Time and Country: Multi-media exhibition featuring three First Nations artists
- May 2, June 6 – Comedy at the Shirley: Standup comedy night
- May 3 – Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow
- May 7 – Yes Yes Yes: Theatre show for young adults
- May 13, Aug 5, Dec 9 – Morning Melodies: Morning tea and Wurlitzer Organist concert
For more information about Kingston’s art venues, head here.
This article was made in partnership with The City of Kingston.
